{news} GP RELEASE Greens: Drop all Jena Six charges, probe racism in justice system

Wed Sep 19 17:09:45 EDT 2007

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org<http://www.gp.org/>

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624,
mclarty at greens.org<mailto:mclarty at greens.org>
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805,
starlene at gp.org<mailto:starlene at gp.org>
Shawn Christy, Green Party of Louisiana
Coordinating Committee, 318-218-7159,
revolutionarylove at gmail.com<mailto:revolutionarylove at gmail.com>

Greens urge Louisiana to drop all charges against
the Jena Six, call for a national discussion of
racial bias in criminal justice systems
throughout the US

WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders called on
the State of Louisiana to drop all charges in the
Jena Six prosecution, and urged a national
discussion on the US justice system's unequal
treatment of African Americans and other people
of color.

Greens will be among the thousands rallying in
front of the Jena, Louisiana, courthouse on
Thursday, September 20, as the next Jena Six
trial begins.  Many Greens and the DC Statehood
Green Party have contributed to the Jena Six
defense fund.  (For background on the Jena Six,
see the article links below.)

The Green Party of Louisiana
<http://www.lagreens.org<http://www.lagreens.org/>>, at its September 8
statewide convention, passed a resolution by
consensus declaring, "We, as the Green Party of
Louisiana call for the justice and freedom of the
Jena 6, the Angola 3, Gary Tyler, and all other
political prisoners."

"Two things are obvious about the Jena Six
prosecution -- first, that the extreme charges
would never have been brought against the
students if they had been white, and second, that
if not for the national attention the case has
drawn, the students would have already quietly
been thrown in jail," said Malik Rahim, former
Green city council candidate in New Orleans.

"We urge the Louisiana Govenor Kathleen Blanco to
drop all of the charges against Jena Six
defendents, but that's not enough.  The case has
focused attention on how the legal system treats
black and brown people, and how poor Americans
and people of color suffer more severe charges
and harsher sentencing, indaquate legal
representation, and plea bargain deals forced on
the innocent.  Let this be an occasion for a
national debate on how to restore justice to our
criminal justice system," added Mr. Malik, who is
also co-founder and organizer of the Common
Ground Collective
<http://www.commongroundrelief.org<http://www.commongroundrelief.org/>>, which
provides relief for victims of hurricane
disasters in the Gulf Coast region and support in
rebuilding affected communities in the New
Orleans area.

Greens have called for an end to the war on drugs
and abolition of the death penalty, both of which
have been applied disproportionately against
people of color.  Green leaders also support the
repeal of zero tolerance and mandatory sentencing
statutes, which enlarge the power of prosecutors
and erode judicial discretion.  (See "Green Party
says racially biased US justice system needs
drastic overhaul," Green Party press release,
July 25, 2007
<http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2007_07_25.shtml<http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2007_07_25.shtml>>.)

"In many towns and states across the US, lynch
mobs and Jim Crow laws have merely been replaced
with police, prosecutors, and judges who make a
special effort to target African Americans.  The
result has been gross racial disparities in
incarceration, with black people imprisoned at
over five times the rate of whites and Latinos at
nearly twice the white rate.  Injustice anywhere
threatens justice everywhere," said Cliff
Thornton, co-chair of the Green Party of
Connecticut and co-founder of Efficacy, Inc.
<http://www.efficacy-online.org<http://www.efficacy-online.org/>>, which promotes
major reforms in drug policy.

Greens cite the fact that the US also has the
world's highest incarceration rate, with 5% of
the world's population and 25% of all the world's
prisoners, as evidence that the justice system
needs drastic reform.  Louisiana has the highest
incarceration in the US.  The Green Party --
unlike the Democratic and Republican parties --
has strongly opposed the expansion of the private
prison industry, warning that the demand for
corporate profits creates a national economic
incentive to fill cells.

"An appeals court has overturned the conviction
of Mychal Bell, one of the Jena Six, because he
should not have been charged as an adult.  This
is a clue that Jena prosecutors were out for
blood when they targeted black students, while
going easy on white students who've gotten into
fights.  Jena will deservedly be the focus of
greater national anger if the charges are allowed
to stand; but we need to investigate and fix the
criminal justice system throughout the US,
wherever racial and economic bias is evident,"
said Alfred Molison, Green candidate for City
Council in Houston, Texas
<http://www.votealfred.com<http://www.votealfred.com/>>, Co-Chair of the
Green Party Black Caucus
<http://gpblackcaucus.blogspot.com<http://gpblackcaucus.blogspot.com/>>, and keynote
speaker at Louisiana Green Party's state
convention.

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org<http://www.gp.org/>
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
 Green Party News Center
http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml<http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml>
 Green Party Speakers Bureau
http://www.gp.org/speakers<http://www.gp.org/speakers>
 2007 national Green Party meeting in Reading,
Pa.: video footage, blog and media coverage
http://www.gp.org/meeting2007/<http://www.gp.org/meeting2007/>

"Tipping the Scales of Justice in Jena"
By Amy Goodman, TruthDig.com, September 18, 2007
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070918_tipping_the_scales_of_justice_in_jena/<http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070918_tipping_the_scales_of_justice_in_jena/>

"Apart from the noose, this is an everyday story
of modern America: The racial tensions which
flared in a small southern town have laid bare
the bias infecting the nation's justice system"
By Gary Younge, The Guardian, September 17, 2007
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,2170644,00.html<http://wwwguardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,2170644,00.html>

The Sentencing Project
http://www.sentencingproject.org<http://www.sentencingproject.org/>

~ END ~

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist10.pair.net/mailman/private/ctgp-news/attachments/20070919/7cda4bad/attachment.html>